Reflections of Christmas Past

Without a doubt, this past Christmas has been the hardest and most painful for me. It was almost impossible to celebrate without Dave - except for the fact Caleb and Zachary were sooooo excited! The day after Dave's funeral Caleb started the Christmas countdown . . . . ,"Mommy, only four more days!!" What a Christmas it was thanks to the generosity of Dave's fellow troopers. The boys were inundated were presents from stations all over! It will be a while before I am able to scrap those pictures, but hopefully, when I'm ready, the pain will have lessened and I'll be able to appreciate the memories.

In the meantime, I was thinking back to past Christmases with Dave. Our first married Christmas (1999) was spent in the ER, waiting for Dave to get stitches! Then there was the year that we both bought each other a DVD player. (And that had been all we could afford!) Then Christmas 2004, the first year Dave was on the job. He had just graduated from the Academy and was stationed in Westport, NY. I spent the day alone in a Lake Placid hotel room watching Gone with the Wind, just so we could be together after he was done working. Christmas of 2007 comes to mind. Caleb's first Christmas - and I was on strict bed rest trying desperately not to miscarry my pregnancy. I had to stay on the couch and snap pictures while Dave helped Caleb open up his presents.

Our last Christmas together was 2012. We were so excited because Dave had worked the previous three Christmas - and he was off for one year! It was going to be the best Christmas ever!! Caleb woke us up early with,  "Mommy, there's a bad taste in my mouth." He had the stomach bug. So into the tub to clean up before Zach woke up and would want to tear into the presents. We managed to create some good memories despite Caleb being sick.

I typically take so many pictures on Christmas I wanted to fit a lot on this layout. When I think of Christmas morning I think of crumpled wrapping paper on the floor, so I tried to recreate that look on my page. I crumpled scraps of Christmas patterned paper and then flattened them. I randomly tacked  them down and then pasted my pictures on top. I was pleased with the results.

I love the picture of Zach hugging Dave. He had just unwrapped some monster books and ran over to Dave squealing,  "Thank you, Daddy!" That was one of Dave's favorite Christmas memories.